Danish researchers have found that sperm whales communicate with others within the same group. It was thought that sperm whales communicated only as a group and with other groups.
When a team of researchers began listening to seven sperm whales in the waters of the Azores (Portugal), they found that the characteristic sounds of knocking whales serve as a form of individual communication. But what are they really saying?
“Clearly they have something on their minds but to be honest, we have no idea what it could be.” marine biologists at the University of Southern Denmark Magnus Wahlberg and Claudia Oliveira summarize their conclusions after research trip to the Azores.
However, biologists are not frustrated by not being able to understand the whales. In fact, they are very satisfied with the outcome of this trip to the Atlantic, as they have gained a surprising new world view of sperm whales:
“It’s a discovery that these wales communicate with each other as individuals. So far, biologists have believed that sperm whales communicate as a group, in the sense that each group has its own set of vocalizations used by its members to communicate with other groups . What we have discovered, however, is that individual sperm whales communicate individually to other members of the group by personal messages, “Wahlberg says in the press release.
Like Morse code, these messages consist of a number of patters (also described as clicks) in a variety of combinations, such as four long followed by two short patters. The scientists recorded 21 different messages.
